France To Increase Military Budget To $433Bln In 2024-2030 - Macron

France will boost its military spending to 400 billion euros ($433 billion) in the 2024-2030 cycle from 295 million euros in 2019-2025, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2023) France will boost its military spending to 400 billion Euros ($433 billion) in the 2024-2030 cycle from 295 million euros in 2019-2025, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

"The law on military programming (LPM) for 2024-2030 reflects the efforts made by the state to strengthen its army. They are proportionate to current dangers, which are significant. In 2024-2030, the government will allocate 400 billion euros to the defense ministry," Macron said in an address to the army at the Mont-de-Marsan air base.

Together with an estimated 13 billion euro worth of non-budgetary spending on infrastructure and other items, France's defense budget in 2024-2030 will mark over 30% increase compared with the previous seven-year cycle. Part of the spending will go toward doubling the power of French air defense systems, Macron said.

The French intelligence will also have its budget boosted by 60% over the next seven years, the president said.

France will also continue to modernize its nuclear deterrence forces, allocating 5.6 billion euros to this end in 2023 alone, he said.

Macron noted that against the backdrop of the Ukrainian conflict, France needs to "reform and transform" the army because it must be able to operate both within NATO and independently.

"It is necessary to pay special attention to the speed of response and build up the power of our army, because we do not choose the conflicts in which we might have to participate," he said.

Additionally, Macron said France should be investing in military-related innovative technology to remain competitive, such as the development of quantum computers and artificial intelligence.